OLEKSII VASYLIEV, outside of military affairs, is a polygraphist who loves traveling and Georgian cuisine. He finds happiness in moments spent with his granddaughter and the small steps he takes to achieve his goals.
About work: Since 1994, I worked in a Ukrainian media holding. I contributed to newspapers such as “Teletizhden,” “Komsomolskaya Pravda in Ukraine,” and “Arguments and Facts in Ukraine.” At times, I wrote articles and had my own column in “Teletizhden.” I made records on the radio, including one with “Tanok na Maidani Kongo” in Kharkiv, and did voiceovers. I served as a responsible secretary, technical director, and managed a branch.
Later, I worked at an advertising agency related to publishing. Eventually, I became the editor-in-chief of a newspaper and a printer. I’m a constructor, designer, and prepress engineer.
I loved my job for the communication it involved. I could never get enough of it; I was always drawn to new people, new characters, new perspectives, and new scandals. It was an incredible dynamic that never repeated itself.
About hobbies: But at the same time, I’m a terrible sociopath. My wife and I always sought solitude during our travels. We traveled to Crimea and went on multi-day hikes with our children. We camped by the shore—swimming, relaxing, eating watermelon, cooking borscht, and climbing to the peaks. People considered us crazy.
Once, we were stopped by forest rangers because that year they weren’t allowing anyone into the mountains. They wanted to fine us but then asked why it smelled so good. They couldn’t believe we were cooking borscht. We did it right: onions, carrots, beets, and chicken. The rangers said that only people from Odesa do such things. Other tourists eat instant meals while hiking.
I also loved doing sports with my wife; she is a former athlete and a track and field competitor. It was my wife who taught me to run. Thanks to her, I saved my leg from surgery. I had a severe compression fracture, and despite the doctors’ predictions, I just “ran” my leg back to health.
About places of power: I studied at the Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute and lived in Kharkiv for about eight years. When I was offered to head a branch of a newspaper in Odesa, I agreed. Odesa reminded me too much of the places where I grew up. My childhood was spent in Georgia. At school, I learned Georgian and English. My grandmother knew five languages and understood eleven.
The sea plays a significant role in my life. However, “as a true Odesite, I only go swimming in the Black Sea once a year when my relatives from Kyiv visit.” We used to go swimming in the Black Sea in Crimea.
I have three favorite cities in Ukraine: Kyiv, which I adore, Kharkiv, and Odesa.
As for places of power, I suppose they are where my family and I feel good. There are many such places. We can find adventures for five days in Mukachevo, a small town that can be walked around twice in a day. We have our own technique for noticing the little things. Sometimes, we tell the locals more about their cities than they know. We love spontaneity and decide on routes when we get there, enjoying communication with people. Moreover, for some reason, when people learn that we are from Odesa, they try to treat us to the best of everything.
About myself: There are two completely different people—before the war and after liberation. Our war is the second one in my life. The first one I witnessed was in the 1990s. It wasn’t the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict, as they say, but the Georgian-Abkhazian war. It was a war.
Before participating in the war, work was probably my top priority. Now I even regret that. Today, my family is the most important thing to me—my children and granddaughter. I even have the call sign “Did” (grandad) because on the very first evening after dinner, a comrade saw how proud I was for having a granddaughter and said, “Lyoha, you will be called “Did”; there’s no discussion about it.” In each platoon, there was a “Déd,” but I said I would be “Did.”
In a company, I’m probably more of a quiet person, even among friends. I love listening. But sometimes, I can throw something in that surprises everyone. I adore humor.
I love helping. I have always helped and will continue to help people. It’s very important. Even from my student years at work, I had the ability to see potential in people, and I was never wrong. In business, this sense of people has never let me down, though it has happened in life. I initially trust people. For me, there is no bad person. It takes something truly extraordinary, something terrible, for me not to like someone at first glance, to refuse to communicate with them entirely. In my understanding, every person is inherently good, and we must love everyone. I even taught my acquaintances to love those around them. If you love everyone, you will love yourself too.
About the War: In 2014, I stood at checkpoints with my brothers. Back then, we didn’t even have the word “comrades.” There was an incident where a grenade was thrown at the checkpoint, and there were injuries, but that didn’t stop me. I knew what we were holding out for.
On February 24, 2022, we woke up to an explosion; I immediately knew it was a missile strike and not some domestic explosion. I had sensed something was coming. The drills, the troop movements—these things don’t happen for no reason, knowing the Russians. Crimea, Luhansk, Donetsk—all fresh in my memory. This explosion could only mean one thing…
I first went to the self-defense forces in Odesa, and on February 25, I headed to the military enlistment office. He didn’t make it to the bus to the Marine Corps and ended up in the Territorial Defense Forces. By that time, Kherson was already occupied, and they were approaching Mykolaiv. We understood that if Mykolaiv fell, Odesa would be next. Many of us thought, “We’ll fight for three days, maybe a week at most. But there are two options: either we beat them back or they take us.” For myself, I clearly knew who I was fighting for.
About Rehabilitation and Strength: The war has had a significant impact on me. I’ve become withdrawn. Due to a concussion, I’ve started stuttering and have developed health issues that no one in my family has ever had. I still can’t accept this injury; my psychologist scolds me when I say it’s “hard to feel like a disabled person.” That’s precisely why I joined the Invictus Games project.
For me, kinesthetic therapy and sports activities were vital. I participated in my first veterans’ sports competition at the age of 50 (I’m now 51) in Chernihiv. I went to observe and chat, but it turned out that four days spent with my comrades brought me back to life. They convinced me to take part in rowing on a simulator, and I ended up winning second place.
I joined the Invictus Games not for a trip to Canada, but for group therapy. My neurologists, after seeing me following the competition in Chernihiv, said: “Go to your Veterans Hub in Odesa, be among them, and engage in conversation. You’ve come back a different person.”
Translated by Green Forest English School